St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-04-16
sTANFORD'S MAIL.

sTANF0RD'S MAIL.
character q - Iaa1nsr.has Alssavss
Deceived ~ - Bsssvolsat senator.
Senator Leland Stanford. who is .
frequent visitor to New York. employs
= sharp-witted ex-journalist in WASH
ington As his private secretary to sift
out of his daily mail the letters Of cranks,
dead-beats and beggars. and keeps three
or four shorthand writers busily en-
gagged in preparing the answers to those
that require attention. The mass Of let
tiers that are poured in upon the Senator
from the post-office, morning and even
ing, is 50 great that it would be appal-
ling to . man less methodical IL MS
habits or less able to employ competent
assistance. They come from all sorts
and conditions Of people. but those who
have something to sell are among the
most persistent of the Senator's cor.
respondents.
Il believe the Senator would own
one-half Of the land in the country if he
bought all that was offered" said his
private secretary. Il don't believe
there are many land-poor men left be-
tween the two oceans whom we hav0
not heard from. Aud we are always
assured that big fortune is impaticntly
waiting for the Senator to pick up. But
it is not land alone that Mr.. Standford's
correspondents offer to sell him. Every
person who has = rare bargain in any
thing and who has bored his friends
and pestercd every body else whom he
could get at and failed TO dispose of it,
unsuccessful spectators Of every sort.
projectors of new railroads who have
got to the ends Of their ropes but have
not got their lines completed to any
where. organizers Of financial. COM
mercial and manufacturing enterprises.
to say nothing Of the numberless solicit
tors for aid for all sorts Of educational.
benevolent and religious institutions
that are in financial straits, all write Il
him"
And these letters do not all come from
American correspondents. The fame
Of Senator Stanford's millions and Of
his more than princely generosity has
gone beyond the sea, and brings him
every week great packages of letters
bearing foreign postmarks. A curious
one received few days ago was dated
ut St. Petersburg, written in bad French
and signed by man who said that no
was Russian Count, who offered to
sell . great slice Of the Cars empire.
have forgotten how many millions Of
acres he said there were. The beauties
Of this vast domain. its untold agri-
cultural and mineral resources and tho
delights of its salubrious climate. were
nescribed by master hand. Enclosed
with the letter was formidable-look-
ing official certificate. covered all over
with seals and attestations. setting forth
that the writer had right to sell the
territory he offered. and tho names OF
high Russian officials and representa-
lives Of foreign governments in St
Petersburg were given, to whom Sen-
ator Stanford was referred and invited
to write or telegraph in regard to tho
Counts responsibility. The Senator
will not probably make the purchase
this year.
Perhaps one-half the letters that como
in Senator Stanford's mail are from
women, and study of this part of his
mail reveals some curious phases Of
human nature and discloses some
strange workings Of the human mind.
Il - - hn.- -
ten of these female correspondents begin
their communications with the same
stereotype sentences or phrases: Il
know that you will consider it pre-
sumptuous in me to write to yon." II
the writer is q married woman she
always declares that she ''writes this
letter without the knowledge Of her
husband"
A popularity of the women's letters
is that they 60 all around Robin Hoods
barn before they come to the thing they
want to say. A woman who wanted
money enough to buy new piano. i'm
stead Of saying 80 right out. prefaced
her request with . narrative of her FAM
lily history, history of the piano sine
had. the usage it had been subjected to.
its getting out of tune recently. her
efforts to restore it and the cost. This
was followed by profusion Of excuses
for addressing letter to the Senator.
a re-recital Of her trials and struggles.
and. finally, after wading through pages
Of irrelevant matter, the request for the
money was found by the reader in tho
last two or three lines.-Z. L. Whits,
~ Philadelphia Press.
CIGAR STUMP SALES.
r. a~6a m 10